Laurentian University Withholds Documents For Financial Audit, Says Ontario Auditor General | The Canadian News

TORONTO – Laurentian University is refusing to provide documents for an audit of its finances, prompting Ontario’s auditor general to go to court to request the information.

Bonnie Lysyk gave an update Wednesday on her audit of the insolvent Sudbury, Ontario school, which requested creditor protection this year amid financial challenges.

The investigation into the government, operations and financial decisions of the publicly funded university was launched in the spring, but the auditor said the university has refused to provide timely and unrestricted access to the information.

“Unfortunately, Laurentian has denied our office access to information that we consider absolutely necessary for the performance of our audit work,” says Lysyk’s report. “This widespread restriction on our audit work is unprecedented.”

Lysyk said Laurentian has refused to share information deemed privileged by his legal counsel, and will also not share non-privileged information because it would take too long to examine.

The protocols implemented by the university have discouraged staff from speaking freely or sharing information and have “created a culture of fear around interactions with our office,” says the update from Lysyk.

Lysyk filed an application in Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice in September asking a judge to declare the auditor general’s legislated right to privileged information and documents, the first time his office has had to take such a step, he told reporters the Wednesday.

“I submitted the request to clarify the definition of ‘privileged,’ ” he said. “It became obvious that even our access to prove non-privileged information was being affected, as well as our conversations with people.”

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Some material has started to flow, following letters from a government committee on public accounts, but Lysyk’s update on the investigation says it is unclear if all the documents will be released.

The Ministry of Colleges and Universities has also “strongly encouraged” Laurentian to cooperate with the special audit, according to the Lysyk report.

Laurentian University said in a statement that it has been cooperating with the audit and has “authorized and encouraged all staff to participate in interviews.” The emailed statement says Lysyk has been granted access to the university’s enrollment system, financial database, and non-privileged documents, with a court hearing on the issue of access to privileged documents scheduled for the next week.

In a Sept. 30 written statement posted on the university’s website, Laurentian President Robert Hache said the university would await the ruling on whether to share inside information between attorneys and clients.

“We remain committed to becoming a completely restructured, financially viable and renewed Laurentian University,” said Hache.

Dozens of academic programs and some college sports teams have been phased out this year as the northern university faces insolvency.

Laurentian became the first publicly funded university to apply for creditor protection in February. Hache announced the news saying that the university was declared insolvent after a decade of financial stress.